Car wheel truing brake shoe



June 6, 1939. MALCOLM 2,161,363

CAR WHEEL TRUING BRAKE SHOE Filed Jan. 18, 1938 awn/M44 Patented June 6, 1939, v

cnnwnaar. TBUING BRAKE snoa Charles A..Malcoim, Meadow Bridge, W. Va" asor of one-sixth to J. ILBowles, one-sixth to we Walker, and one-unit tags. 0. Clifton fwalker, all of 'Cabincroek, ,W. Va. Apilication- January", 1938, Serial No. 185,612

2 Claims. "(Cl- 188-245) This invention relates to brake shoes for car wheels and particularly to certain improvements inthe brake shoe forming the subject-matter of my Patent No. 972,202. The general object of 5 this invention is the same as stated in 'my'prior patent, namely, to provide a-brake shoe-which shall automatically true the periphery of a car wheel to which it is applied and which includes 'an abrading block and a brake shoe proper or in block holder in which the abrading-block is'detachably supported.

The particular object of the present'invention is to so form the abrading or ,truing block and the shoe which-supports it that the abrading ll block may be used until only a very small amount of the block is left, thus permitting long-usage of the block and thus reducing the cost of these blocks, and a further andvery important object is to form the abrading blockiniiongitudinally' 30 extending sections. so that sections of different hardness may be used orrsection's having different abrading qualities maybe used to suit any particular condition of the wheel upon which the block is to-be applied.

'A further-objectis to provide a'hlock which is so constructed that it may be used forabrading and truingthe flange of the car wheel.

other objects will appear in the course of the foliowingzdescriptiom I q My invention is illustrated'in the accompanying drawing-wherein:

Fig. 1 is a'fragmentary elevation of a portion of a car wheel with my brake shoe applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is-an elevation-of the brake shoe and the abrading blockby itself showing in dotted line the-manner in which the block wears.

Fig.4 is a perspective view of the brake shoe by itself. I

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a solid or general purpose block.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a block formed in a plurality of longitudinally extending sections for a purpose to be later'stat'ed. 5 Fig. 7 is a sectional view through a wheel and an abrading blocl: and holder, the abrading block being formed to true the edge of the wheel flange.

Referring to this drawing and particularly.

to Figs. 1 to 5, ll designatesthe car wheel itself 5 having the usual flange II. The brake shoe- I! which constitutes a support for the abrading or truing block is formed with the ears ll between which the brake rod It is pivoted in the usual -manner. This brake shoe has the form of an 5 arcuate plate having. at its ends the. inwardly extendin'g fl anges I. These flanges are undercut at. The outer margin of the brake shoe i2 is provided with the longitudinally extending flange II. This flange II at its extremities is outwardly extended; as at I... beyond the outer faces of the 5 end. flanges l5, as shown particularly in Fig. 4. The brakeshoe II. as before stated, has the form of an arcuate plate but the inner face I! of this shoe is not concentric to the periphery of the wheel but is curved on a greater radius than the radiusofthe wheel l0.

The brake block as disclosed in Figs. 3, 5 and 6 hasit's outer'i'ace conforming in curvature tothe inner face I. of the brake shoe, but its innerface'il conforms to the curvature and has the same radius as' the curvature and radius of thewheel III, so that this block 20 flts closely against the periphery-of the wheel III, while the outer face of the block 20 fits closely against the curved inner face ll of the brake shoe. The 2oextremities of the block are notched at 22, the end walls of the notches extending outward and in-opposite directions so as to fit within the notches IQ; the end extremities of the block extending beyond the faces. of the flanges l5, as 2 shown clearly in Figs. 1' and 3. The block II j bears at one side face against theflangel1 and is thus. prevented from moving outward while the 0ther'.face of the block bears against the flange 'll of-kthe wheel II. If desired, this side face of the block may-be formed as shown in Fig. 7 at I}, so as to flt against and extend over the edge of the flange It so as to true this flange. It will be seen that when the brake block is in place and'thebrake shoe in place; that the brake block is held between the flange l1 and the flange ll of the wheel in the manner best shown in Figs. 2 and .7. The brake block 20 may be formed as illustrated in Fig. 5, of one piece of.

material and this may be either formed of an 40 abrading material which will keep the wheel constantly trued, or of material which does not abrade the wheel. Preferably, however, this block 20- is of abrading material. By the term abradiri'g' material", I do not wish to limit myself to the use of carborundum or like material, as these blocks" may be made of metal as, for instance, hardened steel and in this case would act to true the periphery of the wheel I. and also act as a brake block. If these blocks aremade of hardened steel or other metal, they would, of course, be considerably cheaper than if made of carbo'rundum or like material.

Particular attention is called to the fact that line 24 shown 'i n Fig. a. so that the only portion of the block remaining would be the two pieces designated 25 in Fig. 3, which were engaged with the overhanging lugs or flanges. ll. Thus almost the entire block may be worn out before discard-e ing the block for a new one. There would [be no wear upon the holder, of course, and the holder or shoe l2 would be ready for use again and again as long as the general equipment for. the brake shoe would last.

In Fig. 6, I have illustrated a brake block formed of three sections a," b and 0. These sections are to be made of'diiferent widths and different hardnesses to suit the car wheel upon' which the brake shoe is to be used. If the inner portion of the periphery ofthe wheel was higher than the outer portion of the periphery, an extra hard block would be used as the inside block and the soft block would be disposed in the middle and on the outside portion of the brake shoe. If the periphery of the wheel was higher at its outside than at its inside, an extra hard block would be used on the outside and the soft block in the middle and on the inside. Thus the character of the sections a, b and c which would be be used would be determined by the necessities of any particular case. If the face of the wheel is wearing true, only one block such as shown in Fig. 5 would be used to cover the entire periphery of the wheel. It will be obvious that when the brake shoe is in position upon the periphery of the car wheel that any movementof the blocks a, b and '0 will be prevented by the longitudinal flange I! of the brake shoe and by the flange ll, thus any movement of the different parts or sec" tions is prevented.

To change the blocks, whether the single blockshown in Fig. 5 or the sectional block shown in Fig. 6, is very easy and convenient. The shoe is released from the brake mechanism, then. the

pieces of the oldblock removed and a new solid block or a new sectional block is slipped in and the shoe replaced. If the wheel is not wearing true and it is desiredto abrade one portion of the wheel periphery more than another portion, the sectional block shown in Fig. 6 may be used and sections of the proper hardess put in place.

The changing of the blocks does not necessitate the use of any special tools nor any extra expense and at the same time, time and money are saved in keeping the wheels at all times in good running order.

The structure shown in Fig. 7, as befoi'e stated, wears down or trues the edge of the flange ll of the wheel. A wheel wears down on its tread face.

' The flange ordinarily does not wear and thus the flange projects out topmuch from the tread face of the wheel and is liable, under these circumstances, to split a switch. In order to eliminate this danger, it is necessary to put the wheel in a lathe and take apart of it ofland if the brake shoe should extend out enough to catch or engage with the edge 'of the flange, this edge must be worked down to normal. By providing a brake .block 20 of the form shown in Fig. 7 with a projecting portion 21 which extends over the edge of the flange H, the flange is continually abraded or trued in correspondence with the abrading or truing of the tread surface of the wheel. This 'keeps the flange down to normal and avoids the expense of puttihg the wheel in a lathe.

While I have described my structure as being particularly applicable to car wheels such, for instance, as the wheels on mine locomotives.

. mining cars, railroads, etc., it will be obvious that the invention may be used in any place where a brake shoe is essential and particularly where it is desired to keep the face of the periphery of the wheel trued up at all times.

What is claimed is:

1. A brake shoe, comprising an arcuate body plate having a flange at each end,'the inner face of, each flange being undercut, the inner face of the brake shoe being arcuate and having a curvature less than the curvature of a wheel to which the brake shoe is to be applied, and a brake block having its outer face .at its ends recessed complementary to the flanges of the brake shoe and interlocking therewith, the inner face of the block having a curvature the same as the true curvature of a wheel to which the brake block is to be applied whereby to permitthe brake block to be worn through at its middle portion to the inner face of the brake shoe.

2. A brake shoe, comprising an arcuate body plate having a flange at each' end, the inner face of each flange being undercut, the inner face of the brake shoe being arcuate and having a curvature less than the curvature of a wheel to which the brake shoe is to be applied, and a brake block having its outer face at its ends recessed complementary to the flanges of the brake shoe and interlocking therewith, the inner face of the block having a curvature the same as the true curvature of a wheel to which the brake block is to be applied whereby to permit the brake block to be worn through at its middle portion to the inner face of the brake shoe, the brake block being formed of a plurality of longitudinally ex tending sections differing in hardness.

v CHARLES A. MALCOLM. 

